My Jackass Stamp Is Running Out of Ink

Friday, 20 October 2006

Apple computers have long been prized for being relatively
virus-free. But as more people use Apple products, experts say the
company is increasingly becoming a target for cyber pranksters and
criminals writing viruses and other forms of malware.

The threat was highlighted earlier this week after a handful of
the company’s iPods were shipped with the RavMonE.exe virus.

Hargreaves’s article does not mention — not once — that the virus on these iPods only attacks computers running Microsoft Windows. No argument from me that this iPods-shipping-with-a-virus incident is embarrassing for Apple and worrisome for its customers — but not mentioning that the virus is a Windows virus is a rather egregious omission for an article headlined “Mac Attacks Rare but Rising”.

So congratulations to Steve Hargreaves for completing the trifecta: the third Jackass of the Week of the week.

Update: As of 5 p.m. EDT, the second paragraph of the article now reads (emphasis added):

The threat was highlighted earlier this week after a handful of the company’s iPods were shipped with the RavMonE.exe virus, which targeted iPods used with Microsoft Windows-based computers.

The Jackass award remains in place — pointing out that the iPod virus only affects Windows is good, but the point remains that it isn’t a sign that Macs are increasingly under attack.

Update 2: CNN has also changed the headline to the somewhat less sensational “Security Analysts: Mac Attacks Rare but May Rise”.